Chaucer

This essay Chaucer has a total of 1698 words and 8 pages.
Chaucer

And Marie de France
In his The Miller's Tale Chaucer presents a side of the courtly love tradition
never seen before. His characters are average middle class workers rather than
elite nobility. There is an interesting comparison between the Miller's
characters and those in two of Marie de France's lais that share very close plot
lines. Instead of being idealized Chaucer's characters are gritty. Instead of
being involved in "courtly love" there is some evidence that the
relationship between Alison and Nicholas is one of lust. Chaucer's use of the
lower class makes the absurdity of what they are doing stand out. In the lais of

Marie de France, Guigemare and Yonec, are built on the same archetype which is
the same as Chaucer's Miller's tale uses. Marie's lais can give provide a set of
"ground rules" for this archetype. The two lais share several similar
elements. They both contain the same three central characters, who possesses
fundamental similarities, the same beginning plot line and several of the same
themes. The first character shared by the two lais is the story's villain, the
aged husband. He is a powerful lord who is much older than his wife. Because he
is conscious of this fact, he worries constantly that his wife will betray him,
so he locks her up. He is both the least and most important figure in the story.

He's important because without his presence and actions the story could never
take place. But he has very little actual interaction with the other two more
central characters. The husband in Yonec is never described as meeting either
his wife or her lover. In Guigemare the husband, wife and Guigemare are only
together when the two lovers are discovered. The figure of the beautiful,
imprisoned wife is the second central character. She is the quintessential
damsel in distress, beautiful, noble (and with the exception of her one true
love) chaste. The third character is the valiant lover who rescues the unhappy
and imprisoned damsel. In both Guigemare and Yonec this character is a knight,
and like his lover, the damsel in distress, he is the stereotypical "knight
in shining armor." He is described as being afflicted by love, and says he
will die without it. He will go to any extent for his true love. As with
characters both Guigemare and Yonec share a similar plot line. The young wife is
locked up by her jealous husband. Then by some magical means her lover is
transported to her. After some protestation from the woman, and some wooing from
the knight, the two become lovers, until they are discovered and separated.

After this point the two plots diverge. Also central to both stories is the idea
that these extra-marital affairs are not improper. In Guigemare, the lady's maid
says to the knight: "The man who wishes to love my lady must keep her
constantly in his thoughts and, if you remain faithful to each other, the love
between you will be right and proper." (pg. 49) Obviously fidelity is
important, but not forced fidelity. Love is more important than marriage in
these lais. It's also important to note the chastity of the lovers. There is no
mention of contact between the imprisoned wives and their husbands. In Yonec the

Lord of Caerwent takes his wife for the purpose of child bearing, but she is
imprisoned for seven years before meeting her lover and no children are
evidenced from the text. Guigemare has never been in love before he meets his
true love. This gives the love and actions between the pairs seem even more
pure, and also makes it seem to be less sinful. Love is a powerful force in both
these stories. It is not only the driving force behind the character's actions,
but it also causes them physical affliction. Marie de France writes in Guigemare:
"But love had now pierced him to the quick and his heart was greatly
disturbed. For the lady wounded him so deeply he had completely forgotten his
homeland. . .The knight remained alone, mournful and downcast. He did not yet
realize the cause, but at least he knew that, if he were not cured by the lady
his death would be assured." (pg. 48) To Guigemare at least love is the
most important thing there is. This consideration is even more striking by the
fact that Guigemare either could not or would not fall in love while in his own
land. So those are the basic elements involved in the "imprisoned
wife" archetype used by Marie. In The Miller's Tale Chaucer uses same basic
plot

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